Civil War Round Table of Dallas

Civil War Round Table of Dallas
Logo Design
May 12, 2004

The Civil War Round Table of Dallas has a brand new logo design.
This web page will feature interesting information about the logo and the artist, Kirk Seace.

Design Elements

Kirk has brilliantly combined the following elements in this beautiful new logo for the Civil War Round Table of Dallas.

	U.S. Flag
	Confederate Battle Flag
	State Seal of Texas
	Arillery Officer's Metallic False Embroidered Hat Insignia. This insignia was worn on the hat or kepi of an artillery officer. The majority of officers wore embroidered insignia but metallic insignia held up better in the field.

Texas Monument

You can also see elements of the Texas seal on the Texas monument at Vicksburg.

Medal of Honor Design Elements

Note the crossed cannons and cannon balls.

General George Washington had created the Badge of Military Merit on 7 August 1792 but it had fallen into disuse after the Revolutionary War. Decorations, as such, were still too closely related to European royalty to be of concern to the American people. However, the fierce fighting and deeds of valor during the Civil War brought into focus the realization that such valor must be recognized. Legislation was introduced in the Senate on 17 February 1862, which authorized the medal for the Army and followed the pattern of a similar award approved for Naval personnel in December 1861. The Resolution provided that: "The President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause two thousand "medals of honor" to be prepared with suitable emblematic devices, and to direct that the same be presented, in the name of Congress, to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection, and the sum of ten thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of carrying this resolution into effect."

The original design for the Army was created by Christian Schussel and engraved by Anthony C. Pacquot. The pendant was identical to the design approved by the Navy, with the exception of the suspension and clasp. It consisted of a five-pointed star, tipped with trefoils containing a crown of laurel and oak. In the middle, a band of 34 stars represented the number of States in 1862. Minerva, personifying the United States, stands with a left hand resting on fasces and right hand holding a shield blazoned with the United States arms. She repulses Discord, represented by snakes. The pendant was suspended by a trophy of crossed cannons, balls, sword and an American eagle. The clasp was two cornucopias and the arms of the United States.

Cannon Balls

Brass Monkey Story 1

It was necessary to keep a good supply of canon balls near the cannon on war ships. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck was the problem. The best storage method devised was to stack them as a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.

There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate with 16 round indentations, called a Monkey. But if this plate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make Brass Monkeys.

Few landlubbers realise that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

Brass Monkey Story 2

In days of old, ships went to sea with cannon and cannon balls to fight off enemies or pirates. The cannon balls had to be stacked on deck ready for use. A convenient way to stack them was to place a metal ring on the deck and pile the balls on it in a pyramid. The ring was made of brass to avoid sparks when gunpowder was around and became known as a “brass monkey.” When the ship was sailing in cold water in the winter it could get so cold that the brass ring would contract more that the iron cannon balls (different coefficients of expansion) and thus become “cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.”

Brass Monkey - Truth or Fiction?

Take a look at the following link for more interesting information on the "brass monkey."

Brass Monkey Myth

Designer Kirk Seace

Kirk Seace is a graphic artist who works for Rapp Collins in Irving, Texas. If you wish to contact Kirk you can email him at seacek@rappcollins.com.

Kirk enjoys painting Civil War figures such as Jackson.

The Civil War Round Table of Dallas proudly supports the Civil War battlefield preservation efforts of CWPT. To learn more, please contact CWPT at
202-367-1861
or visit their website at
Civil War Preservation Trust